Beauty of the Season

Good Morning.

It's our last Merry Monday challenge of 2014.

The lovely and talented Karren is our hostess this week.

And this is what she chose.

I recently took a short watercolor class at our local senior center.

We used masking fluid which is something that had been sitting on my shelf 

as a NBUS for at least 2 years.

So I set out to try it on a card.

I definitely need some more practice with that stuff.

The first few attempts ended up with masking everywhere

 but on the watercolor paper.

I've since learned to use a box to do my splattering.

After stamping and coloring the stamped image from

Beauty of the season with my Koi watercolors,

I did a watercolor wash using

Soft Sky, Marina Mist and Blushing Bride re-inkers and my Aqua Painter.

Can you tell that my first attempt at stamping the sentiment went wrong?

I did some damage control using a snippet of watercolor paper

and colored it to match the background.

So I'm taking this over to 

Pixie's Snippet Playground

(This snippet actually came out of the trash basket!)

I used Kylie's sketch

from Happy Little Stampers for my layout.

Even if you've sent all your Christmas cards, I hope you'll

create a winter scene on a Christmas card and join us at

Merry Monday.

I'm so glad you could stop by during this busy time.

Enjoy!

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Card Recipe

Stamps:  Beauty of the Season, Winter Memories (retired)

Ink: Black Archival, SU Markers (Basic Black, Real Red) 

Paper:  Watercolor (Strathmore), Solar White (Neena)

Other:  Masking Fluid, Koi Watercolors, Re-inkers (Soft Sky, Marina Mist, Blushing Bride), Aqua Painter

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Noel

It's been such a busy week here.

I'm sure it's been busy at your house too.

Tis the Season!

Addicted to Stamps has a photo inspiration this week.

I've taken the circle shape of the wreath

and the colors of green and red 

as my inspiration.

Cuttlebug Mania

is looking for Anything Christmas using a manual embosser or die cutter.

I've embossed and die cut with my Big Shot

Thanks for stopping by during this busy time.

Enjoy!

    **********

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Xmas (Cloud 9)

Ink: Garden Green, SU Marker (Real Red)

Paper:  Garden Green, Whisper White

Other:  Powdered Sugar EF (Sizzix), Woodgrain EF, Circles Collection Framelits, Stitched Circles (Lil' Inker), Real Red Taffeta Ribbon

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Joyful Christmas Wishes for Merry Monday

Christmas is almost here.

Are your Christmas cards already in the mail?

Mine aren't.

I think it takes longer to sign and address them than it does to make them.

Thanks to Merry Monday

I have plenty of Christmas cards to pick from.

Debbie chose a very elegant challenge for us this week.

I first made this card for this challenge.

I congratulated myself on a job well done.

(Love all the sparkle on that card.)

Then I noticed that I needed to add a 4th color.

I tried, but couldn't find anything that worked on that card.

So I grabbed a piece left over from my last class

and silver embossed this gorgeous poinsettia.

Since poinsettias are traditionally red, not silver, I used a red mat for my 4th color.

Gold flat back beads fill in the center.

I can't wait to see what elegance you put on your

Merry Monday cards this week.

I've seen the Design Team samples.

Be prepared to be wowed with their inspiration!

Addicted to Stamps

is having a CAS week.

This is my second entry for this challenge.

The lovely and talented, Kylie is holding a

Christmas Card Challenge

with a prize of a watermark and signature made especially for the winner.

This is such a generous prize.

I love my watermark!

The Paper Players

Is this fancy enough?

Pixie's Snippet Playground

Where all you need is to use a snippet on your project.

My white design piece was a snippet.

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge

Christmas/Holidays

Thanks for stopping by, and a special thanks for leaving comments.

Enjoy!

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Card Recipe

Stamps:  Joyful Christmas

Ink:  Encore Silver

Paper:  Solar White (Neena), Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White

Other:  Silver Embossing Powder, Stitched Mats Rectangles (Lil' Inker), Gold Beads (stash)

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Serene Lovely Tree

I was undecided whether to put this card on my blog.

But, here goes!

I stamped the tree a couple of times with Whisper White craft ink

and embossed with white embossing powder.

Then I sponged the background.

I've been practicing with my sponging and have had 

a lot of help and encouragement from a dear friend.  

Thanks, Loll!

I love this layout.  You'll be seeing it again.

I stamped some snowflakes with Encore Silver 

and embossed with silver.

I wish I'd left them off.

AAA Cards

Blue, Blue, Blue Christmas

Addicted to Stamps

is having a 

CAS week

Pixie's Snippet Playground

cuz I used some snippets on this.

Simon Says Monday Challenge

Holiday Cards

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge

Christmas/Holidays

So glad you stopped by.

Enjoy!

    **********

Recipe

Stamps:  Lovely as a Tree, To You and Yours (retired)

Ink:  Whisper White, Encore Silver, Marina Mist

Paper:  Solar White (Neena), Whisper White, Not Quite Navy

Other:  Kars Snowfall EF (Cuttlebug retired), White EP, Silver EP

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Ornamental Pine with Beauty of the Season

It's Merry Monday time again.

This card is a bit out of my normal CAS comfort range.

But it was so much fun to make!

I just started stamping pine boughs and pine cones.

Then I spotted this cardinal that I'd colored and it just came together.

Deanne is our hostess this week

and she chose one of my favorite subjects.

There's a lot of fussy cutting on this card.

These beautiful pine cones are from the Ornamental Pine set.
I stamped them in Soft Suede and fussy cut them out.

After curling them a bit with a bone folder, I adhered them with dimensionals.

Makes them look real doesn't it?

The bird was colored with Blendabilities and fussy cut and
 popped up on dimensionals too.

It's almost time to mail those Christmas cards out.

Hope you'll join us at  Merry Monday this week.

So glad you could stop by.

Enjoy!

    **********

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Ornamental Pine, Beauty of the Season

Ink:  Mossy Meadow, Soft Suede, Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Paper:  Mossy Meadow, Naturals White, Whisper White

Other:  Blendabilities (Cherry Cobbler, Pumpkin Pie, Crumb Cake), SU Marker (Basic Black), White Gel Pen, Stampin' Dimensionals

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted